Saltspring Island

Here is a little video from when my wife and I went bouldering on Saltspring Island. We had just finished exams and squeezed in the trip to visit some family and friends, and of course, some bouldering.

Video ---> SaltSpring Island Bouldering <--- Video

 The approach is short and sweet, maybe ten minutes from the car.

 I stood up hill a bit to get a better view of the higher moves, I speculate the problem is a V3 or 4. There some some chalk on other nearby problems, but not directly on this line, so I'm not sure if it has been sent before. I was told by some hikers there is a guide book available for the sport climbing on the Island, not sure about the bouldering.

My wife sending a short V0, again I'm unsure if it has been sent before.

 Either way, she was very excited. (and proud of her chewed up hands)

  

We were back out at Bear mountain yesterday, and I've still got photos from Esquimalt and Jasper to come. So check back for those posts (Bear Mountain was send city yesterday!)

Return to the Mountains

This title may be misleading, I never lived in or stopped visiting the mountains, I just stopped blogging about it. So here I intend to continue in this phenomena people call blogging, until I was again lose interest, or fail to catch anyone else's. 

So first a recap of what I have been up to and to set up where I am now:

I started coaching again, my team is young again, ranging from age 13 to 16, so I've had to change focus a bit having previously coached four 18 year old guys, but the members are strong and most of them are committed and passionate about climbing, so it is fun and rewarding.

 I found myself my life long climber partner a while back, but in September of 2011 we made it official. This is us on our anniversary backpacking trip last year in Monkman Provincial Park, camped at Shire Falls. Since mine and Ashley's wedding we have met and made a lot of new friends, most of which share our passion for the great outdoors.

 While working at Valhalla Pure Outfitters last year, a climbing and outdoor gear shop, I became good friends with this guy, Tyler, who motivates and pushes me to progress and put full effort into climbing on a regular basis. 

 Dave with his balls to the wall gutsy style came to was in grande prairie last year for a season, and I'm sure he will show up again. Another climber who is residing in Lethbridge along with Dave now is Trent Hoover, he will come up regularly with his contributions.

 Whenever we are on the coast we make sure to visit my long time friend Devin and his wife Anna-maria for an adventure.

 Being in Grande Prairie(and in northern Canada) most of our climbing is indoor, but we try to keep things interesting (this was halloween) with the incredibly strong Carlee, Carl and "Marcus" (L to R)

And sometimes I get some pretty incredible experiences like this one. All of these pictures not only show friends (although the people are the most important aspect) but represent adventures I've been on over the last year or so. I will end up retro blogging on these adventures and others, but I'll probably save those stories for boring times in my life (like exams next semester or strings of bad weather). But As for now: climbing season has begun!

The approach to Juno Wall, in Jasper National Park last weekend.

 One thing I don't intend on doing is pretending that I'm someone I'm not. With that this is my first outdoor sport climb, after almost five years of gym climbing, bouldering and top-roping my friend Tyler and I got on the sharp end. It was a 5.8 called Bleeding Heart Show, but it was fun, and with the logistics figured out, we're ready to take on some bigger challenges now, and really looking forward to getting back out!

Tyler during his flash, enjoying the hot weather and freedom of being on lead.

So watch for more to come, I have plenty of retro blogging to do, with plenty of photos of bouldering, backpacking, travelling and other adventures. I have some video footage as well I hope to get edited and up soon as well, Till next time!

Onwardup

This coming weekend I'll be spending the weekend with Rob Owens of Onwardup, a retail rep company for Patagonia, Petzl, and GSI among others. Really stoked for it. Not only do I get three days of Ice climbing, all expenses paid, but its put on buy companies that are actively searching out and improving ethical standards in production. Patagonia is really changing the industry, taking legal action to ensure they put social and ethical standards ahead of economical gain. And Petzl, a brand that has chosen to continue to support the original communities it began in,  and the small amount of outsourcing it has done with great social, and environmental responsibility.
Patagonia


Petzl


Onwardup

lifestyle

We wear clothes everyday, most of us. We don't wear our high-tech gear everyday though, most of us. So its nice to see a climbing clothing company with its values in the right place, and their clothing purpose driven. Prana. Stylish. Ethical. Functional

prAna expands Fair Trade Apparel

Growing

Growing takes work.
In terms of businesses growing ethically it takes putting money into auditing, and other programs that benefit their employees. This takes time and resources, but studies have shown, that healthier, happier employees do better work, take less sick days and need to be replaced less often. So it is everyone's benefit, yes it costs a little more as a consumer, but in the long run you get better gear, and the people who made it can have a better standard of living. Here is a couple of links to how Columbia Sportswear is growing.

The HERproject

Day in the Life of a Auditor

Thanks Columbia for going out of your way to share this, the more this topic is discussed and brought to light, the more will be done about it.

How can we know that our Clothing and Gear are being made ethically? We have to go there and see it. But in reality this isn't an option in most cases. So we have to trust others who can go see. We need to have a group effort of manufacturers, and third parties to ensure that people are not being taken advantage so we can have stuff. Ethical consumer UK is one such third party. They make a user friendly page that breaks down ethics according to your values. I always start with people, then adjust the sliders from there to see where the companies fall, and where they rise. Thank you ethical Consumer for your help, together I hope we can raise the scores of all these companies.
http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/BuyersGuides/Clothing/Waterproofjackets.aspx

Focus

My Focus is Changing, as many things do. I find my posts thus far to be boring and plain, so, I will be focussing in on the injustices taking place in the outdoor industry. As well as the people and companies trying to make a Change. I hope this will give me more drive to post more regularly.
SO, here is to a blog with a message that means something, one that will raise awareness and questions, and hopefully help provide some answers.